I am new to the Jeep forum, but do not own a Jeep yet. I have been looking and searching the forum for a couple days, but wanted to join and ask a few questions to those who know more than me.

I looked at an 89' Jeep Cherokee today, but things did not go well. The car has been sitting over a year so it has not been run. I started the car and it ran alright when idling. It did not have much gas, but I proceeded to drive it out of the driveway and lets just say I didn't make it out of the court. The car died and fealt as if it had no power and did not respond to any throtle response. After that happened the car was a struggle to start with a battery jumper. It would start and stay running for about 20 seconds but would die out. It seemed that once we added more gas it ran better, but would not run well. I am guessing that since it has sat so long that, it is most likely a fuel problem. I know that the 89 is when they had the Renyx engine and it is known for having problems with the fuel injectors. Can anyone help me out with some knowledge as to what could be wrong. I do not want to pass up a good deal if it might only be something minor.

Well, I would say that your first problem is that you went to look at an XJ and ended up test driving some guys car. If you want to buy a Cherokee...test drive that instead and let us know how that is working...

Seriously. It could be any number of problems from a dead battery to bad gas. It really depends on how good of a deal we're talking and how much time you're willing to spend after you buy it to get it running right.

If it's a Great deal...I say and you'll learn a lot about XJ's while you're fixing it.

It was a Jeep I drove not a car. Didn't mean to call it a car. The battery was dead but the problem was bigger than that. We had jumper cables on the battery when it was running so the battery had power. The car just didn't want to run well. It was struggling to stay on. The Jeep is a good deal. This will be my 2nd car so I already have a DD, but I dont really want to buy a Jeep when I dont know what is wrong with it, considering I know it already needs about $200 dollars to pass inspection.

For the vehicle you looked at, the first thing to verify is electrical. The engine management system does not like it when available voltage is low and stalling is one of the symptoms. There are certainly other possibilities, but life starts with electrical and I ALWAYS start there.

1. Verify output from the alternator first. Can do that with a meter at the battery; put one lead on each battery terminal and at high idle, should be around 14 volts, give or take a bit.

2. For batteries, LOAD TESTING is the only conclusive way of determining condition. Sitting for a long time without running is tough on batteries. How old is the battery in there? Many parts stores will load test your battery for free in the hopes of selling you one if you need one.

If you're just starting your XJ search, don't fall in love with the first one you look at. There are a lot of XJs out there so take your time and look at a number of them before buying one. That is the only way to learn differences between years and appropriate market value for them in your area.

Know that buying one that you can't perform a proper road test on is a really bad idea. You can be buying a money pit. The burden of having a vehicle in running condition for the test drive is on the SELLER. If they can't or don't want to do that, that significantly reduces the value of the vehicle!!

Good luck in your search. Check back with us if you have more questions.

im not sure if a year can do this but my buddy started a bug that had been sitting for a while, thus putting settled fuel into the pump and clogging it. it would sputter and run for a few seconds but cut off, much like your jeep. or the pump could just be a bad one.
thats what i would check first.

honestly, if you're not into technical stuff i would pass on this Jeep.

there could be a lot wrong with it. or very little. even if you get it running well enough for a test drive something else may crop up. vehicles that sit for a long time without proper storage prep eat hoses, get water in the gas tank, kill batteries, etc. do you really want to troubleshoot someone else's Jeep?

that said if this can't even drive itself away the guy must be giving you a good deal on it.

personally i wouldn't pay more than $500 but i would buy it just for a (probably) rebuildable inline six and the tub/unibody as long as it didn't have any rust issues. but that's me wanting to kill myself with another Jeep